All Topics  
Transition from feudalism to capitalism

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Transition from feudalism to capitalism
 
 
  Topics Transition from feudalism to capitalism Topic Home

The transition from the feudal organization of society to the earliest forms of capitalism
Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are private property and controlled rather than commonly, publicly, or state-owned and controlled....
, happened in periods differing from country to country.

In Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, during the 18th century, peasants were dispossessed of the land to which they were bonded and which allowed them to be self-sufficient. The Laird
Laird

A Laird is a member of the Gentry and a hereditary title in Scotland. The title of Laird may carry certain local or feudal rights, though unlike a Lord of Parliament, a Lairdship has never carried voting rights, either in the historic Parliament of Scotland or, after unification with the Kingdom of England, in the Great Britain House of Lord...
s confiscated the land which was property of the clan
Scottish clan

Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Scottish clan chiefs officially registered with the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which controls the heraldry and Coat of Arms....
. Between 1773-4, 1500 people emigrated from the county of Sutherland
Sutherland

Sutherland is a registration county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and historic administrative Counties of Scotland of Scotland. It is now within the Highland Council areas of Scotland....
 to the Colonial America
Colonial America

The term colonial history of the United States refers to the history of the land that would become the United States from the start of European colonization of the Americas to the time of independence from Europe, and especially to the history of the thirteen colonies which declared themselves independent in 1776....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Transition from feudalism to capitalism'
Start a new discussion about 'Transition from feudalism to capitalism'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The transition from the feudal organization of society to the earliest forms of capitalism
Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system in which wealth, and the means of producing wealth, are private property and controlled rather than commonly, publicly, or state-owned and controlled....
, happened in periods differing from country to country.

In Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, during the 18th century, peasants were dispossessed of the land to which they were bonded and which allowed them to be self-sufficient. The Laird
Laird

A Laird is a member of the Gentry and a hereditary title in Scotland. The title of Laird may carry certain local or feudal rights, though unlike a Lord of Parliament, a Lairdship has never carried voting rights, either in the historic Parliament of Scotland or, after unification with the Kingdom of England, in the Great Britain House of Lord...
s confiscated the land which was property of the clan
Scottish clan

Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Scottish clan chiefs officially registered with the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which controls the heraldry and Coat of Arms....
. Between 1773-4, 1500 people emigrated from the county of Sutherland
Sutherland

Sutherland is a registration county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland and historic administrative Counties of Scotland of Scotland. It is now within the Highland Council areas of Scotland....
 to the Colonial America
Colonial America

The term colonial history of the United States refers to the history of the land that would become the United States from the start of European colonization of the Americas to the time of independence from Europe, and especially to the history of the thirteen colonies which declared themselves independent in 1776....
. Later in the 18th century the Gaels
Gaels

The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group which originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to Scotland and the Isle of Man. They are speakers of the Goidelic languages languages ? Irish language, Scottish Gaelic and Manx language....
 were both driven from the land and forbidden to emigrate. In Sutherland, between 1814-20, the remaining 15,000 inhabitants, about 3000 families, were systematically hunted and rooted out. Their villages were pulled down and burnt, and their fields turned into pasturage. It was reported that "British soldiers enforced this eviction, and came to blows with the inhabitants. One old woman was burnt to death in the flames of the hut, which she refused to leave. Thus this fine lady appropriated of land that had from time immemorial belonged to the clan ... In the year 1835 the 15,000 Gaels were already replaced by 131,000 sheep.

Similar practices took place in England, Germany, Poland and India.

The Dobb-Sweezy Debate

A famous debate on the transition from feudalism to capitalism happened between Maurice Dobb
Maurice Dobb

Maurice Herbert Dobb , was a British economist, and a lecturer 1924-1959 and Reader 1959-1976 at University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge 1948-1976....
 and Paul Sweezy
Paul Sweezy

Paul Marlor Sweezy was a Marxist economist and a founding editor of the magazine Monthly Review....
.

Paul Virilio


For Paul Virilio
Paul Virilio

Paul Virilio is a Culture theory and Urban planning. He is best known for his writings about technology as it has developed in relation to speed and power, with diverse references to architecture, the arts, the city and the military....
, the transition from feudalism to capitalism was driven not primarily by the politics of wealth and production techniques but by the mechanics of war. Virilio argues that the traditional feudal fortified city disappeared because of the increasing sophistication of weapons and possibilities for warfare. For Virilio, the concept of siege warfare became rather a war of movement. In Speed and Politics, he argues that 'history progresses at the speed of its weapons systems'.

See also

  • Enclosure
    Enclosure

    Enclosure or inclosure is the process by which common land is taken into fully private ownership and use. Common land is land which is owned by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as arable farming, mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock....
     and British Agricultural Revolution
    British Agricultural Revolution

    The British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 17th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw a massive increase in agricultural productivity and net output....


Additional bibliography

  • George C. Comninel Journal of Peasant Studies, Volume 27, Issue 4 July 2000 , pages 1 - 53 DOI: 10.1080/03066150008438748
  • Adam David Morton Review of International Studies (2005), 31 : 495-517 Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0260210505006601
  • S. H. Rigby's book review in Volume 35, Issue 1 of Journal of Peasant Studies
  • Ben Dodds Peasants and Production in the Medieval North-East: The Evidence from Tithes, 1270-1536. Boydell Press, 2007, Pp. xii + 205. 50.00 (hardback) ISBN: 1843832879
  • Mike Zmolek (2000) Journal of Peasant Studies, Volume 27, Issue 4 July 2000 , pages 138 - 159
  • Zmolek M. (2001) The Journal of Peasant Studies, Volume 29, Number 1, October 2001 , pp. 129-154(26)
  • Stephen H. Rigby Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 2004 34(3):473-522; DOI:10.1215/10829636-34-3-473
  • Larry Patriquin Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol. 36, No. 2, 196-216 (2004) DOI: 10.1177/0486613404264190
  • Larry Patriquin Journal of Peasant Studies, Volume 33, Issue 2 April 2006 , pages 219 - 247
  • MC Howard, JE King countdownnet.info